You Burn Like Motorcycle Blue
by butimbroken
Summary: Buffy/Angel. He's a thief, she's a reporter. AU. Mature themes. ON HOLD.
1. Chapter 1

**Character's sadly belong to others. **

Buffy strolled through her house lazily as she spoke with her good friend Willow over the phone for a few more minutes before finally saying goodnight. With a sigh, she hung up the jacket that she'd just flung over a chair when she'd came in, checked to make sure the front door was locked, as useless as she knew that could be around here these days, then turned out the lights as she made her way back through her tiny space she called home.

As she entered her bedroom, Buffy let out a tired sigh. Today had been pretty damn hectic. Hell, the past few months had been pretty damn hectic.

Sitting down at her vanity, Buffy quickly ran a brush through her not-quite dry hair then reached over to plug her cell phone in for the night. When she sat back up, Buffy let out a short but startled gasp at the figure sharing the reflection in the mirror with her.

Forcing herself into remembering how to breathe, Buffy quickly gave him a one-over before lifting her eyes to meet his own in the glass.

"Hello," she greeted.

His ski-mask hidden head gave a sort of nod. "Good evening, Miss Summers," his voice replied, sounding like melted honey, sending a not-entirely-unexpected wave of lust through her tiny body.

"I wasn't expecting to see you again," she said after clearing her throat.

"Well, that's just not true, Buffy. You invited me here. And you knew I would come."

Buffy raised an eyebrow at him.

"Okay, maybe I read between the lines."

"You saw my story."

"I did. I must say, I was impressed. By both your work and, of course, myself," he said with a light chuckle.

Buffy rolled her eyes at the man who had ended up giving her the biggest break of her career. "Well, I am just so glad that I could be of service in stroking your ego."

"Well, since you've been such a big help so far, there's other parts of me that are in need of a good stroking or two."

Buffy's face went into flames before she could stop herself. "Get out," she choked out with a shake of her head.

He chuckled again. "Now, now, calm down."

Buffy glared at him in the mirror before standing up and turning to walk towards him, her arms crossing over her chest as she went. Since she was so short and he was so tall, Buffy had to crane her head to meet his eyes again as she stood before him.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

One glove-covered hand reached out to stroke a string of her dampened hair. "You invited me, remember?"

Buffy's breathing hitched as leather danced lightly against her skin as he touched her blonde locks. "I did no such thing," she argued. "And even if I did, which I will repeat that I did not, why would you have come?"

His head tilted slightly to the right, his dark eyes sweeping over her before returning to her own. "I thought that was rather obvious."

Buffy gasped then glared, slapping his hand away. "Pig."

Before she could take that first step away from him however, a large arm came wrapping around her waist pulling her to him. His other hand made quick work of lifting up his mask, exposing just the lower half of his face, then bent down to capture her lips with his own.

Buffy was proud of her self, for a whole two seconds, before she lost the fight and her body turned into mush in his arms. She eagerly deepened the kiss and her arms reached out for him. One gripped onto the almost skin tight long sleeved black shirt which he wore, the other sneaking up to his neck, toying with the bottom of his mask drooping there.

He stilled as her fingers brushed underneath but when they both realized she had no intention of taking it off, just running her fingers through and grabbing at his dark locks, he relaxed.

They both knew this was wrong, very wrong. Each for their own, completely different reasons, but neither of them could even begin to care right now.

OoOoO

"What the hell are you sitting there grinning like a fool for?" Gunn asked while tossing an empty water bottle at his friends head, smiling as it hit him. "You're not daydreaming about her again are you?"

He most certainly was. Not about their first meeting, at least not at the moment, the one Gunn knew about given he'd been there too at the time, but the one from late last night.

Reaching down, Angel picked up the bottle he'd been struck with a moment earlier then tossed it back, laughing as Gunn barely made time to swipe it out of his face before it would have clipped him.

"Hey!"

"Boys," Faith said rolling her eyes as she crossed through the room.

"_Sor-ry_," they both mumbled before giant smirks took over their faces, earning another eye roll from the female Lehane.

Happy that the two of them started up a conversation, Angel let his mind once again drift to the petite blonde who'd taken him over by surprise.

The first meeting had been a completely unforeseen event. He and the boys had been on a hit at a museum when in walked one of the managers, with his unhappy-looking date. It had been a last minute decision on Riley's part, dragging her here as some way to impress or interest him, little did he know... Hamilton had unfortunately, and fortunately, knocked him out by the time he'd joined back up with the better part of the gang, and they had tied him up to her up in the middle of the floor to a column.

"What is this?" he asked slowly from a distant corner, his eyes racking over the beautiful blonde. She didn't look at all scared he noted, just really, quite annoyed. And angry.

With a sigh, Lindsey stepped closer to him and whispered the situation, best he knew of it anyway. Angel remained quiet as his friend drawled on, only asking a few quick questions once he'd finished. He wasn't thrilled with the surprise but less about the fact their new guy had harmed someone.

Even if that someone happened to be Riley Finn.

That was a big no. First rule, no one gets harmed.

With a sigh, Angel made his way over to her, stopping a time or two along the way in order to speak with someone in hushed voices about what had happened, or to glare over at Hamilton. "Miss Summers, is it?" he asked, crouching down to her. The boys hadn't found much on her but they had managed to scramble up some sort of ID on the poor girl.

Buffy was tied but her mouth was left uncovered, though she didn't speak, at least not to him. She gave a hard glare and that was about it.

"Okay, I deserve that. I do not have words to describe the sorrow in my heart for the events that took place here tonight. I can assure you that you have nothing to fear from me or my men, Miss Summers. And I can promise you that absolutely no harm will come to you. That no harm should have come to you or Mister Finn here," he nodded back at the blonde man who was still out of it. "New trainee," he tried to joke.

She didn't budge though.

"Okay," he sighed again then stood. He wasn't used to being in this sort of position. That included being attractive to the almost hostage.

Deciding to leave her be for now, he stepped away and focused on the job they'd come to do.

Everyone but Lindsey and he left once they'd gotten what they had come for. Telling his friend to stand guard, Angel returned to the woman, apologizing once, then twice more. "I know you must be quite uncomfortable," he told her, apologizing for that as well, "so I brought you this," he held up a small pillow. "I promise I'm not going to harm you, I'm just going to come over there, lifted you up and place this underneath you, alright?"

She looked at him with weary eyes before nodding ever-so slightly.

It was a small victory.

He made good on his word, carefully bringing her up against him and into his arms, holding her for several seconds too long, before setting her back down on the cushion. "Is there anything else I can get you? A blanket, glass of water?"

"You can let me go," she spoke, him finally getting the pleasure of hearing her voice.

He breathed out a sigh, his hand moving all on it's own to come brush her cheek. She didn't yell, flinch, glare or any of the things he'd expected. That she seemed to have expected her own self to do. "I cannot untie you," he finally spoke, his voice filled with a smidge of huskiness.

"So, what, you're just going to leave us like this until morning?" she spat, her anger finally returning then.

"Of course not. We will take our leave then I will call and give an anonymous tip to the police and they will come to your rescue."

She let that sink in for a moment. "You promise?" she asked him quietly.

Under his mask, Angel smiled. "Yes, I promise. I will send help."

Buffy nodded then let out a breath. "Okay."

Angel stared at her for many moments, which she began to grow uncomfortable with and began squirming from. He knew he should have left, right then, but he found he hadn't wanted to. Stealing a few more minutes with her, he pretended to check her bindings as he spoke about whatever mundane topic came to mind. She'd been a little standoff-ish and questioning him many times over, but she kept up with the conversation, even having grown almost comfortable with it.

"I know who you are, you know."

At this, he stilled.

"You're The Gentlemen, aren't you?"

Then he let out the breath he'd been holding and chuckled softly. "That's what they call us."

"And you're the leader."

"Fishing for information, Miss Summers?"

Her head turned and she gave him a pointed look, making him laugh.

He thought about not answering her, not that she had spoke it as a question, but finally nodded his head. "You could say that I suppose."

When she kept digging for answers, Angel then decided it was really time for him to take his leave.

When he was just about to disappear from the room, he heard her call out.

"Hey, ring leader?"

He stopped but didn't turn around.

"You promise?" she asked again.

"Yes, just sit tight Buffy." And with that he walked away. And made good on his promise, calling in the police, an ambulance, then sending Lindsey off on his way as he found a suitable rooftop nearby to make sure.

It was only a few short hours later when he found out that their Buffy Summers was a pretty unknown reporter for the local newspaper, but when she broke the story, she wasn't so unknown anymore and everyone wanted a piece of her.

That included him.

She was the only thing he seemed to be able to think about over the next few days. He followed her a time or two and did more than enough research on her in his free time. He paid attention to everything she said, in quick interviews and stories, paid attention to anything that had to do with her at all. Paid even more attention than usual, if that was possible, to anything being said about him and the team as well after this fiasco.

He tried to stay away, truthfully. Even as everything about her was screaming out for him, everything in him screamed for her. He ignored the urge to chase her around town as best he could, to not think about her the best he could. He ignored those fleeting moments in interviews where it seemed she was trying to tell him something, whether she even realized it herself or not. The looks she gave on the television, the tone to her words he'd read.

Then finally, her multi-page article came out, and he had to go see her.

Angel smiled at the memory. The first time their paths had crossed, she'd been in a slinky red dress, matching shoes seated beside her, her hair and make-up done up. This time, she was just out of the shower and dressed for bed. And he found her even more beautiful than before.

She didn't have a hint of make-up on and her hair was still damp from her shower, dripping wet spots on her shoulders and down her back, she had on white socks, some banana yellow lounge pants, a huge bow from the drawstrings hanging down unevenly, and a white shirt with colorful splatches and splots on it, looking like something Jackson Pollock would have created.

And she was breathtaking.

He knew it was wrong to go to her, that it was dangerous, but the moment his eyes fell upon her... he knew it was worth it. He became more confident in that by the end of the night, after spending hours with her in that small bedroom of hers. He didn't take it any farther than a heated make-out session, but _damn_...

"Earth to Angel?" Faith called, unknown to him for the third time, breaking him out of his Buffy trance. For a matter of moments anyway.

OoOoO

"You kissed a thief and you liked it," Willow sang, teasing her best friend with her Katy Perry parody.

Buffy let her head fall smack against the counter in front of her. "Shut up." Her head slowly lifted back up and she sighed. "What am I going to do about this? I should go to the police, you know."

"And why haven't you?"

Buffy sighed again.

That was a question now wasn't it.


	2. Chapter 2

Entering her bedroom Buffy jumped a little. A certain large, imposing, known for his thieving ways male was back in her room, lounging quite comfortably on her bed.

It had been just shy of two weeks since their last get together, their second overall, the one in which things had gotten a little heated in this very room, on that very bed, with that very stranger.

Try as she might, Buffy couldn't fully contain the smile the broke across her face at seeing him again.

"Buffy," he greeted slowly, his eyes drinking her in. Tonight, she was still dressed from work and looking just a little worn from it as well.

Her knew she'd been working hard lately.

Buffy's hair was down with most of her long bangs swooped and pinned to the side in a small butterfly clip, her make-up was light, a nice overall look of pink-purple. Her lips were glossed in a stunning shade, looking tempting and delicious as always. Her eyes contrasted nicely against the shade of her eye make-up, which seemed to have a very light glittering effect when the light would hit her a certain way. She had some matching earrings, in some short of shape as the first pair but he couldn't make it out from where he sat, then there was her one silver hoop in the one ear and two diamond studs behind. Other jewelry she wore consisted of a thin dark-ish pink choker and some silver loose bracelets on one wrist. She had on a see-through white long sleeved shirt, a white camisole showing underneath it. They shaped her nicely he couldn't help but note. He could make out thin white straps from the bra hidden beneath the two. Her pants were black, fitted a little loose but didn't take a single thing away from her. Through the see-through top he could see some sort of silver chain hanging around the top of the pants, at first having thought it a belly chain or something, until another look over. Whatever shoes she might have had on were gone by now, he guessed laying downstairs somewhere. Her pants were a bit too long as well, covering her feet as she stood there, just the tips of her pink painted toenails that matched her dainty fingertips showing.

Simply, she was, as always, stunning.

Buffy had crossed her arms over her chest as she watched his eyes travel down her body, hers doing the same to him.

He looked absolutely delicious laying there, and she still had zero idea as to what he actually looked like. His mask was even completely down, covering his face for goodness sake! But that didn't seem to stop her any.

Those dark eyes were dangerously delicious as he appraised her, his hands twitched, seemingly without him noticing, as he lingered on her breasts. His gloves were laying next to him, showing off the long, elegant fingers she'd come to know rather well the last time he'd stopped by. There was a ring, one that didn't exactly scream wedding ring out to her, but held the place of where one night be. She couldn't fully make it out from where she stood, but there was some sort of design to it.

He hadn't worn it the last time, but had noticed his skin slightly lighter in the spot. She'd asked then about his martial status, which caused him much amusement, but he'd told her there was no wife to speak of at the time.

He had on a long sleeved black and skin tight shirt again, slightly different in shape from the last two. 'It must be a fun sight,' she thought in regard to what his closet must look like. She did enjoy the view it gave though, outlining his body, his muscles, moving along with his every breath. The hem was raised slightly, exposing some tempting looking tanned skin of his stomach and over toward his hip. He was missing his expensive looking tool belt, and any belt for that matter. His plain looking, yet strangely sexy, black pants were there all on their own. They did seem to sitting a bit low though, making her breathing pick up slightly. As did the forming bulge which she noticed as long legs were stretched out nicely, feet crossed at the bottom, his black shoes sticking out of the bottom of his pants. One of his laces sat untied, for some reason it stirred something in her.

"Hello," she greeted, halfway through their intense staring. She didn't have a name, a proper one anyway, for him so that was the best she could do. "I've heard you been busy," she continued after ending at his shoes, letting her eyes drift back upward and stopping at his slightly amused brown orbs.

Angel gave a brief nod. That he had. There had been one confirmed robbery by he and his gang, another being looked at but was their handwork as well, and one more which hadn't been discovered or reported just yet. It had been a busy two weeks alright.

"As have you," he commented, his head nodding slightly again, this time in the direction of the newspaper he'd been reading as he waited for her to come home. She hadn't written or spoke of, public anyway, anything about their second, more interesting meeting. She had spoke of them, their initial meeting, pretty much the same phrases and such she'd used before, a time or two but he'd noticed she'd moved on some as well, already having done a number of new articles and had been covering many different topics, events and stories. She did seem to have a knack for crime but she had dabbled in some light-hearted goodness as there too.

Buffy nodded and fitted with her hair, taking the clip out and tossing it over to her vanity before fluffing it again. "I don't suppose you're here to give me some sort of inside scoop into your... er... nighttime activities?"

He was silent for a moment. "They're not always at nighttime," he offered.

Buffy raised an eyebrow.

"But... that's all I comment on at this moment and time."

She rolled her eyes. "Well then, what are you doing here?"

"I was kind of hoping I could seduce you."

Buffy laughed. "Is that so?"

Angel tipped to his side, reaching down to the floor beside the bed to grab up the bouquet of roses he'd brought. "Yes," he answered, pushing off the floor to sit upright again, "I even brought flowers."

Buffy laughed again. "So I see. Pulling out all the stops, huh?" Buffy sighed, then she began to cautiously walk toward him, taking the flowers when he handed them to her.

"Only the best for you, my lady."

Buffy rolled her eyes. She brought the small bundle close to her nose, breathing in the sweet scent. "Thank you, they're lovely," she finally answered, eyeing him the entire time. When his eyes lifted to meet her, she swallowed. She was beginning to believe him a little more than she wanted about this whole seduction thing. "I should, uh, go put these up..." Before she could even finish, he was hanging out a large vase for her, already set up to hold them.

She knew she shouldn't have been surprised at the thought of him going through her house, her things, but for some odd reason it did. The idea of him downstairs... walking her home, seeing the things she owned, looking through her cabinets and such, finding the vase... she just really hadn't thought too much of this whole thing before. Sure, she knew he could, would and had been in here before, she just didn't really think it through it would seem.

"I didn't, haven't, taken anything," he told her, breaking through her thoughts.

Buffy backed away a few steps. "I'm pretty sure it's still breaking the law. And invading one's privacy."

Angel tilted his head. "I'm sorry."

Buffy met his eyes again, then backed up another step. Needing to focus on something else, she busied herself with exchanging the current holdings for the dozen roses then went about finding a place for them around her room. "Thank you again," she repeated. It wasn't every day she got pretty flowers so she was a little giddy from that alone. Even if, and because, they were from a certain no-good criminal.

Before she even knew what was happening, he was up and out of the bed, crossed the room to her. She had barely begun to turn around having finished fussing with the vase and flowers when his hands were on her hips, lifting her against him and into the air, helping place her up on the edge of the dresser next to them.

She'd gasped at the first touch of him, which evidently helped him out.

His mask had been pulled up back up to his nose and he wasted no time pressing that tasty treat of a mouth against hers, slipping his tongue inside. She wanted to bite him, hit him, push him away... something, instead, her body responded against her will, moaning at the sensation of him. Her legs wrapped tighter around him, drawing him nearer, her arms closing in on his neck, doing the same thing.

"I'm not going to sleep with you," she managed to get out when he let them come up for air, his mouth staying busy as it explored her neck, her throat.

Angel let out a half-whimper, half-growl. "Please?" Honestly, after going half-mad over the past few weeks he wasn't above begging for the only thing he ever seemed to be able to think about.

Buffy managed a husky chuckle. She forced herself to take a deep breath, ignoring the stickiness pooling in her panties. "Sorry, Mister Ring Leader, but I don't make a habit of sleeping with men I don't know. Who's names I don't know, faces I've never seen. Criminals. You know, things like that."

"In general, that's probably a good idea."

"But not with you?" she prodded, moaning when he nibbled at her earlobe.

Angel shook his head. "No, not with me."

His hands slipped under the back of her shirt and she arched into him, loving the feel of him. One hand teetered closer to the bottom of his mask, urging him closer to her when she found a nice place to grab ahold. His mouth lowered to hers, treating them both to a painfully slow tasting of one another.

With what little strength against him, Buffy pushed the lug of a man off of her when his fingers had begun to toy with her bra clasps. She panted as she jumped down from the dresser's top and took several hurried steps away from him. "I'm going to go take a shower and get ready for bed," she announced, her voice shaking quite a bit. "I expect you to be gone by the time I come out." And with that, she turned and headed for the bathroom on trembling legs.

Angel clenched and unclenched his fists time after time as he paced the bedroom like a caged animal. He heard the light sound of the shower spray turning on and growled loudly. Suddenly, a hand reached around to the back of his neck, all but ripping the black ski-mask from his head with another growl falling from his lips. He looked in the mirror of her vanity quickly, seeing how true his 'wild animal' comparison rang at the moment. He ran his fingers through his hair quickly then marched out of her room, cross the hall and stood before her bathroom door.

Angel never entered though. At the last possible second, he thought better of it.

Sighing loudly, he dropped his hand that was laid on the handle, and he backed away. He returned to her bedroom, taking a seat on the edge of the bed with another sigh.

After several quiet moments trying to calm himself down, he reached behind him to where his gloves had been lain and put them on, followed by his mask. He looked over to the roses, studying the vase. He had been careful not to actual touch it, using a light cloth when grabbing it to hand it to Buffy, but he quickly wiped it down again just in case. After that, he braced his hands against the dark wood, staring at the spot that tiny girl's body had rested not too long before.

He got so lost in his own fantasies that he barely made out the sound of the water shutting down when she had her fill.

He grumbled to himself, unhappy he still wasn't getting what he wanted, though he understood how ridiculous the whole damn thing was, he finally left.

OoOoO

Buffy sighed herself, entering the room, empty and lonely as her shower had been. She secretly wished he had come to join her, come to break away what little resolve she had, convince her to do incredibly wicked things with him all night long.

But he never did.

She thought she'd heard him briefly outside the door, but nothing came of it. And when she'd dried off, brushed her teeth, gotten ready for bed and return to the bedroom he wasn't there either. Which was supposed to be a good thing...


	3. Chapter 3

Lindsey rolled his eyes as he noticed Angel was still standing there, burning holes into the little blonde reporter who'd stumbled her way into their lives recently.

Lindsey was the only one who currently knew of the other meetings between the two of them, Angel's increasing stalking habits when it came to the girl, and his friend's growing feelings toward her. It was a tough spot to be in, that was for sure. He knew Angel told him mostly due to the fact they were best friends, had been since before they could even talk, but also because he was supposed to be the level-headed one of the group. He was supposed to yell at Angel, tell him he was being ridiculous and so on. Which, he was. There was no doubt about that. And he had told him this, he'd argued that side to the full extent... But... but at the same time... he couldn't help but look into the flip side of the coin either. He was a closeted hopeless romantic in a way, he couldn't help it.

He'd seen the sparks that flew between the two of them. Hell, a blind man could have. He'd paid close attention to the way his friend acted, reacted to her, the way he spoke of her, what he'd say. He paid attention to the details and knew Angel was in some deep trouble when it came to this Buffy Summers. And he didn't even realize the full extent of it yet, but Lindsey sure did and thought this was going to be an interesting ride if nothing else. He didn't kid himself, he knew how dangerous this was for all of them, but... hey. The more he witnessed, the more he believed that whatever came just might be worth it.

Lindsey held out one of the champagne glasses he'd swiped as he'd walked over to his dark-haired friend. "Having fun?"

Angel downed the liquid and growled. Another flirtatious male was introducing himself to Buffy across the room.

"What's his problem?" Faith asked, joining them.

Gunn wasn't too far behind and let his eyes wander, following Angel's line of sight before letting out a low whistle. "Well, no wonder," he said with a laugh. He might not have been told of Angel's sneaking around but he knew something was up, that was for sure. Ever since Angel had lain eyes on her something had changed in the world of the Angel Lehane. "What's she doing here?"

Faith gave a confused look at each of the boys surrounding her before looking over to see for herself.

She hadn't been there when the boys crossed paths with the reporter but had heard all about it since. She'd seen the girl on the television and in the paper as well. And even in a number of sketches and drawings her brother had around his room that he hadn't known she'd seen. "Guess that answers my question," she commented lightly, her eyes drifting back to her brother.

Angel had is bad alright. And not just in a boys joking around kind of way, she could tell that much just by looking at him.

As they all witness Buffy accepting an invitation to dance, Lindsey reached out, gently taking the glass from Angel's hand before it got crushed in his now clenching fists. He shrugged at the others and sipped from his own glass keeping one eye on Buffy out on the floor and one of Angel as he stood next to him.

When the unknown brunette male decided to pull Buffy's small body closer to him, his hands wandering dangerously down her back toward the curve of her bottom, Lindsey decided to take that moment to tell everyone they needed to get started with their assigned jobs for the night.

OoOoO

"Who invited the press?" Angel asked, much later on in the night.

His mother smiled, turning to hug him. She noticed his eyes on that Buffy Summers girl, and not for the first time tonight either. "Your father," she answered.

"Didn't think she did politics," he commented, his eyes motioning toward his favorite blonde.

"I don't think she does," she answered after a moment, a hint of laughter in her voice. "But you know your father. She's got a lot of buzz around her right now so he's somehow hoping to sneak in some time with her, maybe get a story or quote with her anyhow."

Angel rolled his eyes.

"You seem quite taken with her."

Angel blinked. "What?"

"I've seen you watching her all night."

Angel felt himself blush. Apparently he wasn't being very stealthy this evening.

"You should go introduce yourself."

Angel chuckled at this. "That really wouldn't be the best of ideas," he told her.

"And why not?"

Instead of attempting some sort of answer, Angel leaned over and kissed her temple. "I should go mingle," he whispered before hurrying off. He didn't want her getting any bright ideas.

OoOoO

Buffy was spun around by her current dance partner just in time to see Mayor Lehane's son leaving his mother's side and slipping off into the crowd, the first genuine smile of the night crossing her face at the glimpse of him. He was a fine piece of work to look at, no question. Just wanting to see that handsome face, even if from a far distance, is what brought her here tonight in the first place. Well, that and just needing to do something other than work her ass off in order to keep her mind off of a certain creature of night.

It had been a few days since they'd seen each other last but he was a permanent fixture in her every thought since.

Strangely enough, she had the oddest feeling that he was here tonight. Watching her. It was insane, sure, but she couldn't seem to shake it.

As the song came to a close, Buffy wormed her way out of the man's arms with a polite "Thank you" thrown his way before she walked off, heading toward one of the tables set up with nummy treats for the guests. She carefully sipped on a new glass of champagne, picking at some treats she'd placed on her small bowl, while making small talk with a few of the other guests, her eyes scanning the area.

Popping the final lavender-colored mint into her mouth, Buffy excused herself from the small table she'd joined. She threw her small plate into the closest bin and then asked one of the waiter's for directions to the powder room. He complimented her on one of her pieces then drew her closer, giving her the route to one of the more personal rooms. She smiled and thanked him, for both his comments on her piece and for the directions.

Feeling insecure, Buffy stopped before reaching her destination to make sure it was alright if she used that particular room. Getting the okay, she continued.

After taking care of her business, Buffy walked back to the sink where she'd laid her purse and washed her hands, looking herself over in the mirror. She flitted with her hair and was just about to reach into her small bag to touch up her make-up when the door suddenly opened. She gasped at the intrusion, sure she'd locked the private room, then some squeaking noise followed once she saw who'd decided to join her.

"You!" she whispered accusingly after a brief moment.

"Buffy," he greeted, stepping closer to her while she in turn took one backwards.

"You!" she repeated.

Angel chuckled. "Me."

"What are you doing here? And that is that on your face?"

Angel's hand self-consciously went up to rub the impromptu mask, which he'd taken down from a wall in another room.

"You look ridiculous," she told him. It was somewhat true. It was the first time she'd knowingly seen him outside of his night uniform, and he looked damned good. He was all decked out tonight, his body shaping nicely in the expensive looking tuxedo. The crazy mask on the other hand...

Angel reached out, grabbing her and pulling her to him. "You look absolutely stunning," he whispered. He bent his head and kissed her lightly, some struggling in the process with the thing covering the top half of his face. When she moaned, leaning hungrily into him, Angel bounced her up to him, letting her wrap her legs around him while his hands discovered her body, loving the feel of the thin black dress and the warm flesh burning through it from underneath.

His hands were greedy, roaming everywhere, remembering as he'd watched others pawing at his girl all evening. Growling at the memories, Angel spun them slightly, letting her bottom come in contact with the counter to the sink while he pressed his throbbing erection against her, making them both moan loudly.

"I want you," he whispered, his voice husky.

"Take off the mask and I'm all yours," she whispered back. Her hands played across his chest, unbuttoning his shirt, letting her hands slide underneath.

He growled. "I can't do that."

Buffy grabbed one of his large hands with her own, slipping them both underneath the bottom of her dress, passed her drenched panties. She guided two of his long, talented fingers inside her aching core.

"Yes," she hissed, his fingers pumping in and out of her.

Angel let out a painful groan as soon as he'd felt her slick heat. She felt like velvet heaven. Cursing in several different languages, his fingers moved on their own accord, pumping in and out, twisting, teasing. When he felt her hand fall from his wrist and the other fall from where it was teasing his nipple underneath his shirt down to his aching erection he all but lost it. His head fell backwards and he heard her chuckle softly which made him glare down at her.

"I'm glad you find this all so amusing."

Buffy chuckled again, then moaned as he hit her sweet spot. "You could easily end both of our suffering," she told him. Her hands unbuttoned his pants, slipped inside to stroke him through his thin boxer shorts.

"Fuck," he muttered out loud, with a thousand more following in his head. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," he returned to saying his words out to her.

Removing himself from her, he hurried over to where the light switch was located near the door and flipped them all off before returning to her in the darkness. Standing back between her legs, he reached up and took off the hideous mask and handed it to her. "Best I can do," he offered.


	4. Chapter 4

Buffy sucked in a breath, holding the removed mask in her hands for dear life as her brain tried to work out what it wanted to do next.

After several tense, silent moments, Buffy carefully laid the ugly contraption to the side. "Come here," she whispered.

Angel let out the breath he'd been holding and leaned his body into her, lowering his head to hers.

The kiss was soft, then grew to be a little more teasing and playful. Angel let his hands find their way back to her hips, using them to pull her to him even more. Buffy's palms rested against his chest, tracing little patterns on his clothing. Cautiously, she let them wander, finding their way to his throat, his neck, upward until she found her fingers tangling in his short but thick dark locks.

Angel moaned as he felt her tiny fingers roaming his now uncovered head, measuring and flicking random strands, massaging his skull, scratching and pulling.

Leaning away, Buffy swallowed. "Close your eyes," she whispered.

"Okay," he whispered back, feeling her fingertips coming in contact with his forehead, ready to explore.

Buffy let one hand fall down to his shoulder while the other started making friends with his face. She prodded his wide forehead, gently massaged his temples.

"Smile," she whispered and traced the crinkles that formed at the corner of his eyes as he obeyed.

Her index finger whispered over his eyebrows, learning it's shape, her thumb measuring the length between them. She lightly danced her her index and middle finger together over his eyelids, one at a time, feeling the faint tickle of his eyelashes.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked, his voice low, husky.

"Mmhmm," she answered, her hand raising upward to slide down his nose, sliding off to discover his strong cheek bone. Her other hand came up as well, holding his face in her palms. Her thumbs brushed at his skin lightly, both hands following along the side of his face, learning the shape, the dips, the texture. She got to know his strong jaw, curving her hands with it until they met in the middle.

Taking his chin into one hand, Buffy's thumb slowly crept upward, the pad meeting with his lips making her shiver.

Buffy felt him lean forward, bringing those very lips back to her own, making her shiver all over again.

"Buffy," he moaned, his head falling down to nip at her neck.

"Tell me something, tell me something true, something real," she asked of him, her hands shaking as she began to undress him.

"Such as?" he mumbled against her skin.

"I don't know. It doesn't have to be something revealing, uncovering who you are. Just... something. Tell me your favorite color or favorite food, what you had for breakfast, that you had a puppy named Domino when you were seven." There was the sound of clothing hitting the floor heard, she'd managed to undress him sans a tank top undershirt from the waist up so far. Her hands slid happily under the flimsy material, enjoying the hot skin awaiting. "Please?"

Angel pulled his head away from her, just holding her in his arms for a long moment. He knew what she was doing, heard it in her voice, and it was tugging on his heartstrings. "How about I tell you a few somethings," he told her gently, his voice no more than a whisper, same as hers had been. "Favorite color? I'd say dark brown or silver-gray... but if you want a more rainbow friendly answer... either dark green or royal blue. Favorite food would be the general area of the breakfast category. French toast, waffles, bacon, eggs, pancakes... you name it, I'll probably eat it. I also have a deep appreciation for fried, almost to the point of burnt, potatoes topped with cheese. If I could eat this as a meal every day, without any doubt, I would," he told her, getting a chuckle for it. "What did I have for breakfast? I was in a hurry this morning, having to get a quick snack from McDonald's drive-thru. I believe I ordered two Big Breakfast plates, with hot cakes of course. I'm quite an animal lover, always grew up with lots of cats and dogs, among other critters, but I don't believe we ever had a Domino." Again he got a chuckle. He was silent for a pause, then he sighed. "I have a rather large family, though I say that in terms of many aunts and uncles, cousins and so on. I only have one sister and my parents. They don't know what I... well... do."

"Steal," she clarified with amusement.

"Yes, that. They don't know anything about it." Deciding that was quite personal enough, he turned his attention back to what was going on in here. "I was watching you earlier."

She sucked in a breath. "I... I thought I... felt you," she said then wanted to kick herself. 'Could that sound any lamer?'

He growled a bit. "There was a lot of feeling going on but it wasn't by me." Those same, annoying images from earlier came flooding back to him. "I didn't like it."

"Didn't like what exactly?"

"Other men staring at you, laughing with you, spending time with you. I didn't like them touching you. I didn't like you touching them."

Buffy's chin hit her chest as she lowered her head. She knew he couldn't see her but wasn't above believing she could feel her face as to her it felt like fire. 'He was jealous,' she thought, that sending her soaring more than she'd ever want to admit.

"I'm not a jealous guy by nature," he continued. "I mean, well, maybe I am. Just... I've never been this kind of crazy possessive over anything. Certainly not anyone. I've never even come close," he said with a slight huff of a laugh. "I didn't like it," he repeated.

Buffy fought against her face, the smile wanting to split it in half. "The part where you were jealous or why?"

"Both," he grumbled. Though, truth be told, he did sort of enjoy the flaring green eyed-monster. It drove him to new heights when it came to this tiny little woman. He heard Buffy's laughter and smirked along with her in the dark before recapturing her lips briefly. "I want you," he then told her seriously.

"Okay," she breathed after a short moment of silence.

Angel kissed her again.

OoOoO

Hands slid from her kneecaps to her thighs, pushing under the bottom of her dress, making her breath come out in pants and her heartbeat to fly into hyper-drive. Smooth hands climbed up to her hips, finding where her flimsy panties begun. Hooking his thumbs in, her soon-to-be lover used his upper arms to squeezed her and lift her up, allowing him to get the drenched material from under her, pushing them toward the ground where a heap of discarded clothing already sat.

She had been working on his pants but only got as far as the top button and the fly before he pulled her hand away, then on to slipping her only undergarment off. She reached out to him once more, getting her hand pushed away again. She made a noise of frustration.

Angel chuckled and kissed her nose. Least he was fairly certain it was her nose. Hard to tell with all the lights out and all, even if they'd both adjusted to the lack of lighting as best they could by now. "Relax," he told her, and himself. He knew once she touch him... there was no turning back. And, he really needed to at least attempt some foreplay here. He wanted, truly wanted, to make this special for reasons he couldn't fully comprehend. He wanted to take it slow, to learn every inch of her body, and she his. He wanted to know exactly what made her tick. He wanted to tease her, drag it out, make her want him as much as he wanted her. He wanted to see her, watch her.

But, he already knew that wasn't going to be happening at this moment and time. He didn't have that kind of patience, he needed her. But he had to at least try, holding out as long as he could.

His hands returned to her, coming to mirror what she'd done to him earlier, lightly exploring her face with his fingertips, his mouth. He nibbled down her neck. His hands played with the straps to her dress, but he decided against slipping the garment off, which made him flash one hell of an evil smirk that he wished she'd witnessed. Traveling lower, he let his index finger fall between her breasts, both of them moaning. He hooked the finger inside, pulling it so her breasts fell out, which he honestly was surprised hadn't happened sometime earlier in the evening. The unbound twins were certainly hanging by a thread all evening, driving him completely mad as he watched them sway freely, threatening to show themselves to the entire world. He cupped the exposed breasts, earning another gasped moan from its owner. More as he played with the mound, squeezing, biting, licking before going to have the same good time with the other.

All the while Buffy had let her hands return to him, staying away from the lower half of his body, for now, as she knew he would probably ruin her fun again. Instead, she explored his wide chest, teasing his own male nipples, getting a few groans out of him as well.

"Are you planning to undress me anytime soon?" Buffy asked, feeling him doing quite the opposite, dressing her. He recovered her breasts and was smoothing the fabric out.

"No."

Buffy's forehead creased and her hands dropped away from her without really realizing it. "Oh," she said, feeling rejected. "I thought you wanted..."

He leaned dangerously close to her. "I want you. In the dress."

She was no longer confused with that tone coming through his words. She couldn't help but shiver once again. "Oh. Okay then."

Buffy hissed as he pushed the tips of two fingers into her dripping core again. He moaned loudly. She was wet, tight and ready. He could have come from this alone. Brushing his thumb against her clit, he got a jump out of her and smiled. He removed his hand from back under her dress and went about getting the rest of his damn clothes off before this had a chance of being over before it even began.

He made quick work of getting undressed and soon found himself back between her legs.

He jumped himself when suddenly he found himself being fondled by a tiny hand that seemed to come out of nowhere. She moved slowly, cautious, perfectly. His entire body shook. Angel's hands dug into her flesh, holding on for dear life as she stroked him.

One of his large hands came to rest over hers, stopping the movement. Again he groaned loudly. He gently removed her naughty hand from him and his own rejoined it's twin, coming to slid over her thighs, taking the dress with her, bunching it up around her waist.

"Buffy," he whispered, getting as closer to her as he possibly could, positioning himself at her beckoning entrance.

"Uh huh?" There was a slight catch in her voice, even with saying that much.

"I don't think I could walk away even if you say no," he tried to joke, "But are you sure about this?"

She was silent, tense, but finally she let out a breath. "Yes, Ring Leader, I'm sure," she told him, her voice very small. "I'm ready."

It became quite apparent seconds later that she, in fact, was not. Hearing her scream of pain and feeling her whole body tense, it didn't take long for him to figure out what had just happened.

"That is something you tell the other person," he ground out from his clenching jaw.

She didn't respond.

His anger mixed with worry became nothing but worry. "Buffy?" he asked gently, his hands reaching out to cup her face, feeling the trail of tears and hating himself more than he could have ever dreamed possible. "I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean... I didn't know..." Angel felt her hand pushing him down to her, he went, closing his eyes when he felt her lips gently press against his own. He tried to remain as still as possible where their two bodies were connected but he'd heard her hiss again on the way. "I'm sorry."

Buffy shook her head still placed between his hands then gave him another light kiss. "Just... can you hold still for just a moment?" she finally spoke.

"Of course," he whispered, after having nodded and realizing she couldn't exactly see it, "Anything you want."

She gave a small whisper of a laugh. "Might want to be careful with your words there."

"You could have told me."

"I... I know."

"I would have..."

"You wouldn't have touched me," she butted in.

"Maybe not, but if I had it could have gone a lot better than that," he replied, his voice still soft, but with some effort.

Buffy remained silent. She knew he was right, she should have told him. And, she knew that if she had broadcasted her lack of education and experience, he more than likely would have run for the hills. But, if he hadn't, she knew he'd have done everything possible to make sure he was gentle as possible and the works.

"I'm sorry," he finally repeated, feeling a new line of wet tears coming in contact with his flesh. "Buffy, I truly am. I... um... well can... remove myself... I just wanted to try and make sure I didn't hurt you any further and..."

Buffy stopped him before he could go on anymore. Bracing herself on the countertop, she slowly began to move against him, the pain slowly fading away.

"Buffy?" he asked, back through a clenching jaw.

"Ring Leader," she said, wishing more than ever she had a name for her thieving lover. Hell, even a made-up one picked out. "I want you. Yes, I'm sure. And yes, I'm ready. So make love to me."

He growled. "You said that before."

"If you don't," she balanced out to the tip of his engorged manhood, then slowly pushed back down, "oh fuck, mmm, god," she moaned, momentarily forgetting everything else, "If you don't... I will... mmm... find someone who will."

"Careful with your words there, Buffy," he threatened, taking back control as he slammed into her.


	5. Chapter 5

"You would think someone would tell you if they were a virgin, right?"

Lindsey turned his head to the side, then did a double take of his friend. "Uh, well, I guess it depends. A girl, probably more likely," he answered, his face screwed up in confusion. "Why? Who's a virgin? What'd I miss?"

Angel caught sight of Buffy down below as she returned to the large crowd. "Buffy. Well, was."

Lindsey's eyes just about bugged out of his skull and he almost choked to death on his drink as well. "Alright, seriously, what the hell did I miss?"

OoOoO

"You know you're going to Hell, right? You are aware of this?"

Angel glared. "I don't see how that's being helpful."

"I'm being helpful?"

"No, you're not," Angel said, his tone annoyed, but also this side of amused. "What is he doing?" he asked looking below.

OoOoO

Buffy had cleaned herself up the best that she could manage after her thief had slipped away, then dared to venture back out there, planning to escape.

As she politely moved through the crowd, Buffy heard her name being called. Turning around, she saw that the mayor was the owner of the voice and was heading her way. 'Shit.'

Forcing a smile, Buffy awaited his arrival, doing everything possible not to think about her nether regions.

"Mayor Lehane," she greeted, holding her hand out, then blushing profusely. She knew where that hand had been not too long ago.

"Miss Summers," the mayor greeted with a gigantic smile on his face, shaking her hand quickly, "I am so delighted you were able to make it tonight."

Buffy brightened her smile a tad, briefly giving the gathering a quick, awed look. "I feel truly honored for the invitation, sir. I had a wonderful time."

His head tilted slightly, eyes twinkling and narrowing. "You weren't thinking of leaving already were you?"

Buffy brought a hand up to her chest, still smiling. "You know us reporters," she threw his way then sighed. "I do have an early day tomorrow."

He frowned, his arm reaching out to her, gently drawing her nearer. "Well, if you insist," he let out a sigh of his own, then came back with another wickedly charming smile, "But I do insist on at least one dance out of you."

Unsure of how one would turn the mayor down, Buffy agreed, letting him lead her out to the floor while forcing herself to be charming and sweet, cracking a few jokes along the way.

OoOoO

Angel's hands gripped the banister as he watched Buffy being pulled into his father's arms. "Linds," he growled, "Go run interference on that."

Lindsey scrunched his eyebrows together. "Please do not tell me you're jealous of your father right now. That is more than I can deal with."

"Worried," Angel corrected... for the most part.

"Just what do you think he's going to tell her?"

"I don't know!" he grumbled then glared, not wanting to explain everything at the current moment. "Just go down there and cut in or something."

Lindsey polished off his latest glass. "She knows my voice." Lindsey received another glare, and threw one of his own. "Hey, it's not like it was planned. We were surprised that night!"

"Fine, use an accent, I don't care."

"Your father might get a little suspicious if I do that huh."

"I'll just explain to him that it's your new strategy for picking up women."

He laughed. "Now, no one would believe I'd use, or need to use, anything but my sexy and one hundred percent natural southern accent, Angel."

Angel rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you go do it yourself?"

"Because she would recognize me."

Lindsey's eyes narrowed. "Please tell me you didn't."

His head shook. "I didn't, not exactly. She's still only seen what you know of. But there's plenty of other factors to add in. And she would know." Angel sighed, running a hand down his face, idly scratching at his jaw as he stared down at his father and Buffy. "And if she pays enough attention to him..."

Lindsey sighed, watching as Angel mentally compared himself to his father.

Angel was a nice mixture of both of his parents, though his father's attributes were more pronounced. And not just his looks either, his phrasing and dialect, his powerful presence...

Angel groaned. "I don't care, just figure something out. I'm going to go plan my escape before they decide to try introducing the pretty little reporter to their bachelor son. I can already see it spinning in both of their minds, each having their own agendas."

Lindsey laughed lightly at that one. "Your mom trying to get you to settle down with a nice girl and you're father trying to keep her around for publicity and furthering his career."

"Either that or something close to it. You know them."

He did.

OoOoO

"Your father finally made his move."

Angel's eyes returned to the still dancing pair. "I see that."

"And you have yet to."

Angel chuckled, rolling his eyes. 'If only you knew.' Next he gave her a look she knew all too well.

"Angel..."

"Mom..."

"This is an important night for your father."

"I know that. And I was here for him wasn't I? Done everything he asked of me."

"Except actually staying?"

He sighed. "You know I hate these things."

"Yes, I am aware," she grumbled. "But you need to stay."

"Why?"

Her hand went to her hip, eyes narrowing. "What do you have to run off and do that is so important you can't last through the rest of the party?"

Angel paused then let out another sigh. "I have a friend who was hurt tonight and I want to try and do something special for them and see if I can't make them feel better."

She looked him over. "Is this friend a girl?"

"Yes," he said rolling his eyes.

An eyebrow raised. "Have I met her?"

He pursed his lips together. "I don't think you have," he answered honestly. She hadn't mentioned talking to Buffy herself.

"Are you dating her?"

"I don't think she'd call it that."

"But you would?"

He laughed. "I don't know."

"What happened to her?"

"I think it's a little personal," he answered after a beat.

"Will she be alright?"

"Yes," he said then felt a wave of guilt rush over him. "I hope so," he added quietly.

There was a loud sigh, a long pause of silence. "Fine. Go make sure your 'friend' is taken care of. We will talk about this later."

"Can hardly wait," he muttered under his breath.

OoOoO

Buffy felt like she was going to just pass out by the time she finally made it home. Mayor Lehane had turned their one dance into several, though some African-American man had cut in then thankfully let her rest. Though that alone wasn't much of an easy task either given the obvious. And though he had let her stray from the dance floor, the dear mayor hadn't let her stray too far from him, least not far enough to go running toward the exit. She ended up staying well into the night.

Buffy let out a half-groan, half-sigh as she stood inside her home, the door closing behind her. Taking a moment to herself, her eyes closed and she attempted to relax after one hell of a day.

Deciding she just wanted to go upstairs, climb into bed and worry about tomorrow when it got there, she began walking, flinging her purse and jacket along the way, also slipping her shoes off as she went as well. Groaning, she saw her answering machine blinking and as much as she'd like to just ignore it, she knew she couldn't.

Dragging herself closer, she began to listen, deleting and sorting, deciding what she could come back to when morning came. Hearing her best friend's giddiness filling the house made Buffy smile and she let the message play all the way through. There were none that followed so Buffy grabbed up her phone and dialed Willow.

The two friends were briefly going through the craziness of the night, Buffy debating whether or not she was going to tell of her adventures in 'becoming a woman' earlier in the evening. She knew she in fact would, just the when and how were up in the air. She knew if she brought it up now she'd never get any sleep.

"So, did you see him?" Willow asked, her voice hyper as it can get.

Buffy's eyes bugged out. "Did I see who?"

"Angel!"

"Oh," then "Ohhh," she breathed and smiled as she thought back to that other juicy part of the night. Her other 'him.' "Yes, Wills. I saw, from afar, the devilishly handsome Angel Lehane."

Willow squealed, Buffy thought it was infectious as she bit her lip from doing the same thing.

Willow began her onslaught of questions and she was actually kind of happy to discuss the sighting of the mysterious son of the mayor. As always. Ever since she first caught sight of a photo of him... she had quite an enormous crush.

Buffy was already sort of falling into her Angel-dreamy state as they gossiped when she noticed a figure then standing at the top of her stairs and almost dropped the phone as one hand flew up to her racing heart.

"Buffy?" Willow asked, her voice now full of concern having heard her friend sucking in a breath on the end of the line. "Are you okay?"

Buffy closed her eyes, then opened them with a glare. "Yes, Willow, sorry, I'm fine. There actually is something I want to talk with you tomorrow, in person I think, so I was wondering if maybe we could finish this up then?"

Willow was quiet for a moment. "Sure," she dragged out, then, "Are you sure you're alright?"

Buffy took a deep breath. "Yes. Just noticing I have an uninvited guest back at my place."

Willow chuckled. "Oh, well don't let me keep you from that. Don't have too much fun."

Buffy grumbled then the girls said their goodbyes.

"You scared the hell out of me," she accused, hanging the phone up, trying to keep her mind on there here and now, not... other things.

"Sorry."

He didn't sound very sorry.

"You could at least roll the bottom of your mask up. I've already seen what's hiding under there. And again with the creepy factor, especially as you stand there doing some sort of Michael Myers impression or whatever you're doing."

Angel chuckled, his eyes seeking out a small mirror she hand hung on the wall. It wasn't the best of angles from where he stood but he could see what she meant. He rolled up the bottom of his ski mask as she requested.

"What are you doing here?"

He tried to smile. "I was worried about... earlier."

Buffy blushed. "Oh."

Angel's hand reached up to his mask covered hair and scratched nervously. "I... uh... wanted to make sure you were okay?"

Buffy was about to snap some comment at him but she could tell he truly was upset by what had happen so swallowed it back down and smiled softly. "I'm a little sore, a little embarrassed, but I'll be fine."

"Well," he began, his feet now taking his body down the stairs toward her, "I got you something that might help with that a bit."

Buffy's eyes creased together but she took his hand he'd held out and let him lead her up the stairs. Halfway up, she could smell a light rose fragrance and smiled at whatever it was.

"So... Angel Lehane, huh?"

Buffy's happy smile turned back into embarrassment. "You do know it's rude to listen to other's people's phone conversations right?"

Angel laughed. "So is a lot of things I do. But I wasn't trying to listen to your conversation exactly, I just... happened to hear parts of the message your friend left as I let myself in..."

"You mean when you broke in?" she corrected.

He glanced at her. "Fine, when I broke in. I heard her voice carrying through the place, then I heard you're return and well... ya know."

Buffy rolled her eyes.

Angel laughed. It was a very strange thing to feel jealous of yourself he was learning. He was the very man Buffy seemed to have a known crush on, but she didn't know that, and he didn't want her going around daydreaming and giggling like school girls when she had him. What she knew of him anyway. Hell, she'd just lost her virginity to him, that should mean something. 'Right?' he questioned himself, not for the first time.

It did send his ego soaring through the roof though. It wasn't that he had low self esteem, at all, in any way shape or form but for whatever reason knowing this one girl found him attractive... it meant the world.

With a smile down at the pretty blonde, Angel lead her the rest of the way, bringing her toward her bathroom.

Buffy smiled brightly as she entered the room, taking it in. Closer, and having given some more time to mix in, she could now smell a faint mixture of vanilla with the nice, not at all over empowering rose one. There were several small candles around the room which were the cause of that she noted. Looking at the counter sink then over at her tub Buffy gave a happy squeal. He'd gone a tad overboard but she didn't even care.

There was a drawn bath, bubbles included. In the fog of them, she could see parts of rose petals lain out. And underneath the water had been stained a deep color of pink. If there was anything else she couldn't see from here. Normally, she'd only use one to maybe two products at a time but again, she really didn't care.

Without thinking about it, she turned around and went to hug the large man, still somewhat dressed from the party with the gloves and ski mask additions, who had his arms crossed over his chest as he leaned in the door frame a hug.

Looking back at the sink, she squealed again. The large basket holding other lovely products sat, looking all kinds of delicious. She'd been drooling over one of these the past few weeks.

As she got closer, Buffy noticed another seated on the floor near the toilet, colored a light green, sour apple flavored.

"I have been going by just to stare and drool in the windows at these," she told him.

Angel nodded. "I know," he told her softly.

Her head turned back toward him and she frowned. "What do you mean you know?" Her eyes narrowed. "Were you following me or something?"

Again, he nodded. "A little."

Buffy gasped. She didn't really know if she should be surprised or not, probably not, but she was up in the air. She didn't know exactly how she felt about it either. Or what to say.

"I know you must be tired and have a lot going on," he continued, "But I thought it might help and knew you were lusting after these so I stopped by and..."

Buffy nodded and the two remained in silence for a long pause.

"The water turned pink," he blurted.

Buffy laughed. "It's supposed to. It's a bath bomb. It happens."

He grumbled. "Anyway, well, uh, I should... leave, go wait out there and let you... or I can just leave if you want..."

Buffy smiled at his nervousness. It was very unlike him, well, that she knew of him anyway. She was about to answer him when suddenly a thought came to her mind and she paused, her eyes going wide. "You stopped to get this before you came here?"

Not yet getting it, Angel nodded his head. "Yeah."

Then as the word left him he got it. And stilled.

These gift baskets were specifically made by that store. Buffy knew he'd have had to go in and buy them. It would be ridiculous to think he stole them. Well, maybe not completely out there exactly, it was his job, he was a thief here, but still. Trying to picture him doing such a thing almost had her bursting out into laughter. So no, he must have went in and actually purchased them.

This time of night... as expensive as they were... him all decked out as he must have been... he'd taken off part of his outfit and kept it more simple but still... and she doubted he'd have gone to the trouble of changing into something, either some other outfit, his nightsuit or what have you, then changed back... the cashier... security cameras...

Buffy's eyes nervously drifted over to him, where he remained unmoving. His eyes were wide, jaw and fists clenched. She didn't think he was even breathing.

It took him awhile to notice he was being watched, another bout to force himself to calm down. He turned toward her, she jumped a little, he knew she knew already but this was just another confirmation, but he smiled warmly. "You should enjoy your bath," he told her. "I hope it helps. Again, I am really sorry I caused you any pain."

Buffy just blinked at him. Her mind couldn't help but heard him though, despite it's main focus. She knew he'd more than made up for that pain by the end of their fun. Hell, she'd do it all over and worse to do it again. She knew that.

"I need to go."

Angel's mind kept screaming about how fucked he was, but a small part refused to let this be over just yet. He just needed to figure out how to cover his tracks.

Or some other way to save his ass if it came to that.

He needed to warn the others and start getting together his plans of escape.


	6. Chapter 6

Looking at the date on her wall calender, and not for the first time today, Buffy let out a large sigh. Her head lowered to rest on her folded arms laid out across her desk and she closed her eyes, blocking out everything going on around her.

Yesterday had marked it as one month since the Mayor's little shindig, a month since she'd lost her virginity to her favorite thief, a month since she'd been told of a way to reveal just who was hiding behind that mask while today made it a month since she'd decided against the idea, to not find out, least not now, not like that.

Willow liked to analyze her, and honestly, sometimes so did she, pushing the idea that maybe she wanted him to get to the point where he felt free to do so, or that maybe she honestly just didn't want to know. Didn't want to know because of just who he might be, what would happen, change. What she would be faced with then.

But, in any event, she never went to go find out.

She almost had a time or two but always shut it down.

Today also made for a month since she had last seen or heard from him. A month since she'd come into her bedroom to find him sitting on her bed, his back to her, his mask off and set to the side of him.

He told her he had watched her the whole day, watched as she went to the store, stood outside and stared, then walked away.

For whatever reason, that part of the night always stuck with her. His tone as he had spoken, his tense stillness that surrounded him.

By the end of the meeting, he'd slipped the mask as well as his gloves back on, crept to her window and hung halfway out of it until escaping... never once having looked at her. He'd never said goodbye, never explained that their relationship or whatever it was was between them was now through, that she wouldn't be seeing him anymore... at least he hadn't in direct words.

She'd gotten the message though. And ever since that had dawned on her, she'd felt... well, she honestly didn't know but it wasn't good. Not one bit. And she was serious about not seeing or hearing from him since, not in any way at all. The Gentleman hadn't even been heard of, reported in any stories since. He was just gone.

And she missed him. Far worse than she'd have like. Missed him more than should have made sense.

A little over a week later, Buffy used her latest story to subtly reach out to him, hoping he'd be reading it, between the lines of what was there, that he would care and that he would come.

That night came, then it went. As did the next and then the next.

Pretty soon, a few weeks had slipped right on by.

OoOoO

"I'm going to kill him," Angel muttered under his breath, his eyes glaring toward his father and the media group he'd brought along with him. "Never miss a photo op, do you Dad?" he whispered as they hugged moments later. After they parted, Angel got a large smile thrown his way and a pat on the shoulder. His father began questioning him of his trip and how he was, spoke of how glad he was to have his son home.

Angel played along.

Until they reached the car anyway.

Not surprisingly, Angel was taken to his parents house instead of his own, where his mother was waiting. And she wanted to talk and feed him.

Nevermind the fact of his thirty-six hour flight or anything. But, again, he went with it.

When he was finally able to escape, he crawled into bed with a series of moans and groans, set his alarm and then went to sleep.

OoOoO

Waking, Angel dragged himself to the shower and then he dressed slowly.

Sitting down to put on his shoes, Angel's looked over one of the newspaper's he had been sent on his trip, his eyes roaming a particular story from his favorite reporter. It had been put out there weeks ago but he had only gotten it the other day, but when he had, he hopped on the first plane back home without even thinking twice about it.

On the way here, of course he had though, and much more than twice, but he knew he was going to do this.

It had taken all his willpower to walk away from her, but now... now she was asking for him. Again. And he couldn't help it. He knew the risks, every last one of them, but right now... he just didn't care.

"Just because she hasn't doesn't mean she won't," he forced himself to remember. Which he did, he understood, he just didn't care right now.

OoOoO

Buffy had just switched off her bedside light and closed her eyes when she heard a noise coming from outside of her window. She bolted upward and began trying to think of the closest weapon she could reach, her eyes were wide as saucers as they stared off to the side and her hand was just about to grab her phone when a figure gracefully slid inside.

A figure she knew all too well.

In the dim light, she could make out his eyes, burning holes into her as the two just stared at one another.

Finally, he turned slightly, closing the window behind him and pulling her curtains together a bit more. When he was finished, she sucked in her breath as he ripped off his mask, followed by his shirt, then the rest of his clothing as he began making his way toward her.

"What... what are you doing here?" Buffy choked out as he reached the foot of her bed, then swallowed painfully as the now naked man crawled onto the bed and up to her.

"You invited me again," he whispered before leaning down to kiss her.

"It was a slow tasting, yet hard and passionate all the same. One of his hands reached out to her, cupping her cheek and pulling her closer into him, the other busied itself with trying to push away her comforter.

"Sorry I got here a little late."

Buffy could hardly hear him, you know, with the fuzziness in her head, blood rushing through her veins, heart pounding uncontrollably and all but she didn't care. Whatever he was saying didn't matter, just that he was here.

Once, more or less over the shock of just that, Buffy's hands shot out to tangle in his hair, bringing his head back down to hers. Her body wiggled and her legs tried to carefully kick away her covers, and once they managed to get her free, she arched against him happily and did her best to completely wrap herself around him.

"I know this isn't going to make any sense, it's completely crazy," Buffy panted when the two became too desperate for air, "But I've missed you. I have. I've missed you so much," she confessed.

He didn't respond, with words anyway, instead he kissed her again, breathing be damned. His hands toyed with her the hem of her tank top before working it off of her body and tossing it aside, his mouth nibbled down her throat to her chest, her breasts, teasing her relentlessly.

"Please, please, please," she began to chant, unsure of just what she was begging for.

She felt him smirk against her, then his hands pulled away from her breasts. His hands sought hers out, guiding them both back to her heaving mounds and positing her how he wanted. She blushed in the darkness as he had her thumb flick at one of her hard tips but after a few times she was just lost in the sensation of it all.

When he was happy with his handwork so far, she felt him slide down an inch or two. His head returned to her other nipple, licking, kissing, nibbling at the flesh while his hands worked on her bottoms.

He smoothed his palms against her sides, her hips first, then his fingers found their way to the drawstring ties and he hummed as he pulled against the strings. A finger hooked into her waistband and slipped along the line where it met her flesh, tickling her some, before the hand flipped and slowly slid inside, lower, down to push against her cotton covered and dripping slit. They both moaned at the contact, her body jerking with every move he made. Two fingers cradled between the thick lips, slowly moving up and down the cloth. Before retracting his hand, he gave her clit a quick pinch, making her scream.

Her pants and her panties were soon on the floor with the rest of their clothing. His head left its place at her breasts, making a trail down her belly and now coming to tease her thighs before settling between them. At the first flick of his tongue, she jerked again and his hands came to her hips, doing their best to hold her steady. Her own hands left her chest, reaching out to the sides of her, fisting in the sheets.

It was heaven... and death... what he was doing to her, it was heaven and it was death. She was seeing stars and fighting to breathe as his mouth and his fingers tortured her. She'd been trying to keep track of just what he was doing, feeling insecure for awhile despite the ecstasy he was putting her through, but that was long over.

He'd sought out her every inch, his tongue at kissed her, sucked her, licked her every which way. He'd lapped at her core, twisted and circled, shot in and out of her. He'd licked up and down her slit, circled her clit, sucked, bit, teased until she thought she couldn't take anymore. His fingers glided against her, inside of her, drove her to new heights. He moved slowly when she wanted, faster, harder when she needed.

After her third orgasm, she felt blissfully numb, her entire body convulsing with aftershocks.

Buffy barely even felt him, turning his head to gently bite into her thigh, smiling at his handwork. She barely felt or noticed as he began kissing back up her body, paying special attention to her stomach then her breasts. Barely made out his hovering above her.

"Think you can handle more?" he asked her, brushing away loose strands of blonde hair in her face.

"More?" she breathed, not entirely understand that concept. 'How could there be more?'

He chuckled. "Yes, more," he answered before kissing her lightly. She didn't think she'd even responded, unable to move.

However, when she felt a hand snake between them, grabbing at his manhood, guiding it to her entrance then pushing inside... she came back to life, shrieking loudly and clawing at his back as the shakes returned in full force. "Holy mother of hell," she panted, buried in his shoulder. "Umnghf!" Her head fell back as he moved, slowly pushing in and out of her. "I'm going to die," she whispered, uncaring of that as long as he didn't stop.

Which, he didn't. And she'd begun to wonder if he ever would.

It felt like their coupling was going to go on for an eternity. Which wasn't such a bad thing.

He took his time, moved in deliberate strokes... from long, lazy strokes to the fast and furious, everything he did seemed to have a purpose. And she thought she had a good handle on what that was.

"I missed you," she repeated in a heavy pant, feeling his speed somehow increase again. "And I love you," she breathed, with an enormous amount of effort to get the words out. "Too. I love you, too," she continued, understanding that's what he was telling her. Even if he didn't see it right now, she did.

Buffy heard him growl then suddenly felt herself being lifted, slammed against the headboard and the wall. She'd tried to keep up with him but she knew that was over, her legs turned to jelly as he began pounding into her in a dominating force and she tasted blood as her teeth cut into her lips from his punishing kiss.

His hand snaked between them again, found its way to her swollen bud and pushed her back over the edge.

A few seconds later, he was joining her. He came shouting her name and then together they shook violently against each other, panting and holding on for dear life.

Finally, he collapsed, falling backwards, bringing her down with him.

She knew the second he fell asleep and smiled sleepily, feeling the darkness ready to take her over any second as well. She kissed the middle of his chest before feeling around for her blankets, struggling with her currently noodle like arms to pull them back to her but somehow she managed, covering them both back up as they were. As soon as she shut her eyes again, she was out.

OoOoO

When she woke up, it was morning. The sun was up, filling the room, her alarm was blaring, birds were chirping, kids were yelling, cars were moving about...

And he was still there.


	7. Chapter 7

Buffy's eyes were wide as they stared at the black ski-mask that was still on the floor and her heart pounded so hard that it was difficult to breathe.

"Are you planning to turn that off anytime soon?" he asked, his voice full of sleep.

"Huh?" she answered, dazed, fighting not to turn her head toward him.

"The alarm," he clarified, the hand in his line of sight pointing toward the contraption making all the noise down on her nightstand.

"Oh," was all she breathed out.

A few short moments later, Buffy felt herself being lifted, then laid back down properly in the bed, the large male body still with her, covering her as they switched positions. He buried his head in the curve of her shoulder while his hand shot out to the side of them, blindly figuring out how to make the beeping stop.

"Stay with me," she heard him mumble against her neck.

"I... I ha...have to g...go to wo..work."

"Don't go," he answered with, his hand now guiding one of her own between them, down to the one part of him that was fully awake. Her hand wrapped around his harden shaft, his hand wrapped around hers, and together they slowly began pumping him. "Please?"

"I... I... I ca..can't."

He shook his head no against her. "Please?" he repeated. His hand lifted up from hers though she continued to stroke him, not ready to stop, to lose the feeling of him. Soon his highly talented fingertips were back to her, now coming to find their way to her own sex, already dripping wet and ready for him. One finger slid inside and she gasped, closing her eyes. "Call in sick." A second joined. "Say you had a family emergency come up." A third digit swiftly came to join with the others. "That you're following up a lead. I don't care, just stay here with me."

Buffy swallowed, her body moving on its own will against him, already feeling close to falling over the edge. She tried as hard as she could to think, to talk, but she couldn't seem to focus on anything else, couldn't form words of any kind, just breathy moans and stutters of whatever some part of her brain wanted to say but couldn't.

"I'm just going to take that as an agreement," he said in obvious amusement.

Before she could forget what she was doing and turn to glare at him, he was gone, shifting down the bed, causing her to lose her grip on his velvet shaft which she missed greatly already, and his face burying back between her legs. She watched him, blushing at the picture he made.

Her eyes caught sight of the top of a tattoo on his shoulder and she could have sworn it was somehow familiar, and for just a moment she tried to place it. But, once again, as soon as his mouth touched her, his lips smothering over her button while his fingers continued to slide, pump and twist, all thoughts flew out the window.

Her hands reached for a pillow and placed it over her face as she screamed so loud she was sure she'd have woken up the whole neighborhood.

OoOoO

As Buffy rode out her last waves of pleasure, Angel took a moment for himself. He honestly hadn't expected or planned any of this. He hadn't planned to ever see her again, to end up jumping on the first flight back home to do just that because she sent out some encrypted message asking for him.

Last night... he hadn't planned for this to happen. He'd come to see her, to talk, but the moment he saw her that flew right out the window and he was jumping her bones before he even knew it.

He hadn't planned this. Staying the night, being here as morning came. But it happened.

The second she said she loved him, he knew he was done for. He couldn't leave. He couldn't walk away. He couldn't hide. Not again, not anymore. He knew what he was risking, understood how reckless he had already become when it came to her, but last night... everything changed.

Taking a deep breath, Angel kissed her thigh, her hip, her lower belly. His tongue swept into her belly button and he smiled as she giggled. Random, open-mouthed kisses were placed across her stomach, her breasts. His body shifted as he reached the two mounds, sliding closer to the position he was after.

His head kept down, he latched onto one of the peaks before moving on to the other.

With a wet pop, he released her, moving back to the valley between the two and leaving a wet trail behind. He kissed, nipped along her collarbone, nibbled on each of her shoulders, sucked on her neck until he'd left a number of claiming marks on her flesh.

The tip of his cock slid easily into her center and the both hissed at the contact. Then, Angel did another thing he hadn't been planning to do, and he finally lifted his head up.

OoOoO

As soon as she realized what he was doing, Buffy stilled completely beneath him, sucking in her breath. And when she became to face to face with him, she choked on that very air.

Angel, as in Angel Lehane, as in the only son of the Mayor, as in The Ring Leader of The Gentlemen, as in her thief, as in the only man she'd ever slept with and technically was at this very moment once again, as in the man she'd fallen in love with acted like this was just the most natural thing in the world, smiling before leaning down to press his lips to hers.

"Hi," he whispered, pressing himself deeper inside of her body, slowly, inch by inch until he was buried in as far as he could possibly go.

Buffy's nails had clawed half moons into his arms as he'd dove deeper, her eyes had remained wide and unblinking as she stared on in shock. And he stared back, looking worried though she barely noticed this.

Eventually, his hands came to cup the sides of her face and he kissed her again, this time with such power and hunger she was beginning to wonder if he was going to eat her alive.

But it worked. She began to respond, though she was still completely out of her head about everything. Angel Lehane was in her bed, inside of her, there was just no wrapping your head around that.

His hands fell back to the mattress, helping to balance himself, and he began to finally move within her. She gasped as she felt him pulling out, moaned with her eyes rolling back into her head when he pushed back in.

OoOoO

"Stay with me," he whispered once more when he finally caught his breath again. He groaned, slipping out of her wetness as he rolled off to the side, taking her with him.

Buffy nervously looked at him, then to the bedside clock briefly, before back to him. "I... uh..."

"I love you."

Buffy almost choked again.

"And I want to spend the day with you," he continued.

Buffy pushed herself up with the use of her hands to his chest and stared at him. "You...you're Angel Lehane."

"I am aware of that."

"And... you're..."

"I'm aware of that, too."

"You're in my bed. And you're a thief. And you're the mayor's son."

He nodded. "I am all of those things."

"Why are you in my bed?"

He chuckled. "I'd have figured you'd ask why to a different pick of those three, but okay, why am I in your bed? Well, because you asked me to come see you, I did, then... things sort of escalated from there?"

"You're Angel Lehane. And you're in my bed."

"Uh... yes. That I am."

"I had sex with you!" she exclaimed, her eyes widening.

He laughed again. "Multiple times, at that, don't forget. And we're far from finished," he added with a wink, making her blush all the harder.

"I think my head is going to fall off."

"How about you and I go jump in the shower then we can try bringing you up to speed, alright?"

OoOoO

Their shower, not surprisingly, turned into another smutty sexcapade, then another came about as soon as they returned to the bedroom.

After a quick nap, due to their exhaustion, the pair finally slipped into some clothes and headed downstairs where he began to rummage through her kitchen and set about making them a meal.

"Well, you're just full of surprises, aren't you?"

Angel chuckled, tilting his head back to her. "Always. I probably won't be hosting my own cooking show any time soon but I do alright."

"We'll see," she teased, feeling a little bit more at ease with everything, but far, far, far from grasping everything. Which he noticed, too and commented on.

OoOoO

"Are you worried?"

"About you?"

Buffy nodded, happily shoving hashbrowns and bacon into her mouth. She smiled to herself remembering the mention of his love of breakfast foods.

"I am," he answered honestly. "But, I made a choice. And no, I don't regret it."

"You didn't have to," she told him softly.

"I made a choice, Buffy. I don't know what's going to come of it, but I wanted to."

"Why do you do it? Steal, I mean."

"I enjoy it."

"You enjoy it?"

"Yes, I do. And I'm good at it."

Buffy waited for him to elaborate, which he didn't. "That's it? You're a criminal because it's a fun hobby?"

He shrugged. "Why do you do what you do?"

"I..." she shook her head. "I've always loved to write."

"I've always loved to steal. Why focus on crime?"

"Cute. It... I don't know. I've always loved the genre when it came to novels, and I always thought I'd grow up and become some hot-shot best selling author or something. A few twists and turns got me here. How'd you get started in thieving?"

He chuckled. "One day I was just a kid stealing random items from neighbors yards with my friends to being a teenager with a reputation when it came to more thought out pranks. Anyway, my sister came to me one day, about two or three days before her birthday, and decided to dare me to steal this pink tiara for the occasion. It wasn't suddenly some more or less harmless prank because this was the real deal, stored in a gallery, security system and the works. She was just joking really, never expected me to do it, neither did I honestly. But... I found myself there the night before, cracking the code and creeping inside. After that, it became a lot about the next challenge for the most part. I suppose I did become a collector along the way as well so that's now another reason for why I do it. What do your parents think about what your job?"

Buffy shook her head at his story. "Uh... they're both supportive, for the most part. They're proud of me but they worry."

"Guess our way of meeting didn't help with that?"

Buffy chuckled, remembering talking with her mom and dad after the news broke. "Not exactly, though if I was going to be right in the middle of something, they were glad it was with your band of brothers."

He smiled back at her.

"Yours really don't have a clue?"

Angel sighed. "Have you heard my father talk about us?"

She nodded, remembering some stand-out quotes and interviews the mayor had given about The Gentlemen and everything surrounding them.

"He and I might not have the best relationship in the world, but it is pretty good for the most part, not to the point he'd be talking about me like that," he joked. "Not even for the cameras. So no, neither of them know."

"And if they did?"

He thought for a moment. "My dad... he'd lose his shit, at first. But, then he'd go into protective mode, for me and for himself if it came to that. Mom on the other hand would first worry about the dangers of the job but then would probably just find it funny."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, she's kind of like that. As long as I'm happy and healthy then she's good. She can be a little overbearing and nosey and whatever, she can be a mom to the fullest, but yeah, she'd find it humorous more than likely. And she'd be supportive no matter what. It'd probably make a lot of sense to her too actually."

"You're dad doesn't support you?"

"He does, I guess, in his own way... but it's never just you, you know? That's the only issue between us, the media politics to everything with him. I usually grin and bear it, but we can butt heads with one another when he tries to use or exploit something personal about me. Other than that though... Finds about us and he'll have a field day, I can tell you that much."

OoOoO

After washing up, the twosome headed into her living room, laying themselves out on the sofa where they talked some more. They watched a movie, then their clothes came flying off again and they continued to get to know each other a little better that way.

Which, is pretty much how their entire day went.


	8. Chapter 8

Over the next several weeks the crew came back together and slowly got back into the rhythm of things.

They hadn't done any big jobs yet, nothing too flashy or making a statement sort to speak, but they'd been creeping back into the game trying not to arouse any unwanted suspicions.

Also, there was the fact that emotions were running pretty high given the news that Angel had revealed himself to the journalist he was sleeping with.

On one hand, just about everyone was truly happy for him, they had seen the changes in him since her arrival, seen the way he'd been pining after the girl, and how miserable he had been without her that month away. But, there was also the risk in it, for all of them, and how large of one it was.

OoOoO

After finishing up for the night, Angel scrambled off from the others and headed over to Buffy's, as he had been doing just about every night.

She'd given him a key though he still preferred sneaking in through her bedroom window but he ended up using it for the first time.

Inside, he easily made his way from the front door towards the kitchen where he flipped on the lights. His head tilted toward the staircase to see if he heard her rummaging around but there was nothing.

Slipping off his gloves, he set the leather on the corner of the table then started going through her cabinets and fridge grabbing up some supplies to make them a quick snack as he was starving.

Angel frowned as he realized his lover did not own a serving platter at all. He'd looked briefly once before but then had ended up distracted and forgot about it, but now was pretty damn certain she was without one.

He twisted his mouth at the meal he'd prepared before gathering up the two plates and two cups. Using his elbow and some skilled movement, he shut off the light to the kitchen and made his way up the stairs.

He laid most everything down when he reached her room, setting things down on the small hallway table, then opened the door and slipped inside.

Now inside the room, Angel set everything over on one of her chest of drawers where there still remained some free space, then came over to the bed, kneeling beside her. His hand brushed away some of her blonde locks covering her face then leaned forward to kiss her.

"Hey beautiful," he whispered. He got a sleepy groan in response which made him smile. Dropping another kiss onto her forehead, he covered her eyes with one hand, shielding her from the light from the lamp he turned on. Which, had gotten him another groan in response for.

"What are you doing?" she mumbled.

Angel had to repeat it in his head a few times before he understood her slurred together words. "I brought you some early breakfast," he answered, slowly removing his hand.

One of her eyes opened and he smiled at her, laughing when she made another mess of jumbled words, this time he had no way of knowing or figuring out what the blonde beauty had tried to tell him.

Pushing off the floor, he took a few steps over and reached for their meal, waiting as Buffy slowly sat up, swaying at first and rubbing her face and eyes. She seemed to awaken much faster upon seeing the food he'd made, just a quick helping of eggs and bacon really, though. He sat her glass on the nightstand to the side of her then went around the bed and joined her on the other side.

"You are a god."

"I know."

Buffy rolled her eyes at him.

OoOoO

Angel grumbled as he was being woken up, the warm body against him trying to leave his side. He barely registered her telling him that he needed to get up and start her day, just pulled her closer to him and buried his face further into the middle of her back.

"Angel," she whined, pushing at the arms binding her.

That went on for a few minutes then, feeling a bit more awakened, Angel kept one arm snaked around her waist as he turned them, his free arm reaching behind him to the floor, reaching for something from inside his discarded jacket and gave it to her.

Squinting with one eye, he watched her sigh, taking it and looking over the invitation. "What's this?"

"I want you to go. With me."

Her head tilted back over her shoulder to look at him.

"You know, like my date."

She was quiet for a moment. "You do?"

"Yes," he answered with a yawn.

"In public?"

He nodded. "Yes. Is that a problem? Ashamed of me?" he joked.

"No," she breathed. "Of course not. It's just... I..."

He pulled her tighter and kissed her temple. "Say yes."

She smiled. The folded up card was brought up to her face again and she seemed to ponder it over for a spell. "You're sure?"

"Mmhmm."

Her smile grew. "Okay," she whispered, her voice sounding very childlike in that instant.

Angel spun her in his arms so that she now laid flat against the bed and snuggled closer to her, his hand running down her body. His head lifted away, propped up on his other arm bent at the elbow, and he looked down at her. "I want to marry you," he said suddenly, the feeling of wanting to spend the rest of his life with this woman overwhelming him in this very instant.

"What?" Buffy asked, almost shouting.

"I want to marry you," he repeated, his voice soft, calm. His large palm laid on her stomach, his fingers spread out on her flesh, feeling her warm and soft. "I want to spend my life with you. I want to have children with you, a family with you."

He hadn't meant for this to happen, for him to feel this way, not about anyone, not about her. He sure hadn't meant to tell her, but it just came out, just as the undeniable knowledge of it hit him as it did. All he knew or cared about right now was that it had happened and he meant it.


End file.
